buy a decent bike and the kids are more likely to use it, and therefore spend less time wanting/using other toys - so cheaper in the long run.
My parents bought me two £60 skateboards (sequentially) when I was a kid (34 years ago) and I was out on them all the time - so good value in the long run.
they also they bought me a raleigh scorpio POS - thereby killing any chance of me developing into a pro cyclist...
said the Spesh cost the same price
I said it cost no more, that's not quite the same thing. Cost is more (or less) than just the original purchase price. One bike is now on its second owner and, with care, will still be worth something after both my kids have learnt to crash on it. The other one is worthless and ready for a skip, despite the fact that it is basically brand new. The purchase price new of the Spesh would have been three or four times that of the BSO.
I struggle with long sentences but my thinking is; they are your kids, it's your money, buy whatever you want you shouldn't need to justify it to anyone. Some people will think its ridiculous, some won't even flinch.
As an aside, I remember a few years ago one of Beckhams kids was snapped wearing a $10k watch and everyone was saying how ridiculous it was. I worked out as a percentage of his and my earnings that it was like me buying my little 'un a new Barbie - it's all relative.
BTW the bike cost a lot more that £150, but after resale that's what it ende dup costing.
The funny thing is, Jnr has a decent road bike and an ok (but not a BSO) MTB, yet he wants a cheap crappy BMX so he can mess about with his mates, who seem to all have BMXs. That said none of his mates go out for longer bike rides or race like Jnr does.
Cheap bikes are a false economy cos they don't last and don't get ridden. Mine's Isla is coming up 3 years use and easily gets upgraded with cast offs.
I spent a couple of weeks looking at 2nd hand Islabikes on eBay (I'm powder coating the Rothan for my youngest so doing a Cnoc to match would have been cool.) I found that even tatty examples were selling for £150 and often more. If I get 4 years use (across 2 kids) and get half my money back at the end, that starts to look like astonishing value for money.
Agreed petrieboy. After 18 months constant use, I sold my daughters daughters Islabike Rothan for £20 less than it cost me new. That's pretty bloody stunning value for money!
I guess the question is whether buying something like an Islabikes is something that will have lasting value and improved utility, or whether it's pointless bling. I may be biased as my 8 year old has had a Islabikes Beinn 20 since she was 4 (getting too big for it now though), but considering the potential re-sale value, how much it has been ridden, and what condition it's still in after 3+ years (ie almost perfect) I'd say it's a no-brainer. And most importantly of all, thanks in part to having a decent bike, she now loves riding bikes, which is something I wouldn't put a price on.
And most importantly of all, thanks in part to having a decent bike, she now loves riding bikes, which is something I wouldn't put a price on.
That's the bottom line for me. My boy's last bike cost £380 and we've been out every weekend on it since I bought it, and have had some great rides. He loves his bike. Priceless.
My 10 year old daughter is currently riding a 24" Giant xtc,cost £120 second hand off here.It was spotless on purchase,and gives me peace of mind because the brakes work,and is light enough for her to enjoy razzing round on it,and in 2 years or so I'll sell it on and get some cash back.I couldn't do that with an Apollo from Halfords.It's a no-brainer really.
My eldest son started off on a Halfords clunker. It was heavy and the brakes were poor causing him to lack confidence.
We then chanced upon a bike test day locally where my son tried an Islabike. I'd never heard of them so had no bias but I could see his confidence swell in the 10 minutes or so he enjoyed on that bike. I bought him his first Islabike soon after.
Although they are expensive the enjoyment he and my youngest son have had out of all the Islabikes they have had since makes the cost more than worth it in my eyes.
Hazel's Cnoc 14 has cost us £20 for the year.
That's a cost I can justify for a perfect little, light, beautiful bike.
It's how I will continue to spend money on the kid's bikes.
Go for the best you can afford, we bought our 3 children Islabikes last Christmas. My wife was really really sceptical and couldn't understand the weight aspect. Once delivered and she was there to receive the delivery even in the boxes she was surprised how little they weighted.
The children took to them really well, 7YO felt the difference in weight for hers, 4YO came off stabilsers very quickly after and the 1.5 YO was off on his rohan very quickly, he would even pick it up, can't say the same for a halfords special.
We looked at getting used but the difference in price was very small, their residuals are amazing.
If you can take the plunge!
Like others have mentioned i find it criminal/obscene that parents will spend £300 on a games system for their fat arsed kids but baulk and laugh at spending the same on a decent pushbike - i guess they're the sort of parents who prob shouldn't be having kids in the first place but each to their own yadda...yadda.
I was bought a muddy fox explorer back in 1986 when i was 14, i still remember the pricetag which at the time was an exorbitant £400 which adjusted for inflation is over £900 in todays terms, we stayed in the middle of nowhere in a tiny forestry village with nae tv reception in deepest Argyll on the shores of Loch Awe and needless to say the bike was used every single minute of every single day, we used to go for epic runs in the hills and all over the extensive forest road network without a care in the world, getting totally lost was part of the fun and if we took a wrong turning and ended up on the wrong side of the hills it meant a long trudge back home, 26yrs later and i'm still daft about bikes and if i can instil a similar passion in my mates kid by buying him nice lightweight decent quality bikes then it's surely a win-win situation, it's gotta be better than spending a few hundred pounds on a game system so he can sit on arse all day everyday - i consider that child abuse.
I've bought Isla bikes for my kids, the Rothan is still going strong for number three and when she grows out of it she will inherit the Cnoc. My other half had no objections with buying decent built for purpose bikes for the kids, the wee one should be on the Cnoc this summer sans no stabilisers as her two older siblings.
Once we have finished with the Rothan I'll be able to punt it on or use it as a PX for the next Isla bike which is more than can be said for a boat anchor POS from a large retailer.
I try to buy the best parts that I can afford for my bikes, so why shouldn't I do the same for my kids?
I don't have kids but many nephews & nieces etc
My sister in laws lad who is quite sporty was staying last Easter with us and really wanted to go mountain biking, he has ridden in the FOD & some of North Wales on his BSO (think of the cheapest URT FS that weighs about the same as your car)
So I borrowed a Giant Trance off a small mate and set it up for him, he did the whole of the Red & Black @ Llandegla without stopping once.
He said it was the most technical route he had done but found it really enjoyable as the gears worked every time the suspension helped him over stuff he would have crashed on & the brakes actually stopped him before he got out of his depth.
He said he can't wait to come back, only if he can ride my mates bike though as his BSO still sits in the garage while he does Karate as he now knows the true value of a good bike.
BTW somafunk was it Dalmally?
Close :-), Dalavich on the Taynuilt to Ford singletrack road, utterly fantastic place to get my first proper mtb as it really was in the arse end of nowhere and a massive kids playground due to the desolate forest roads and amount of trails in the area, was there from ages 12 to 16 and spoiled rotten wi cars/motorbikes/mtb's/air riflers/chainsaws 😯 (got my first 21cc brashing saw for my 12 birthday to help my dad at weekends) / trawling in the loch for monster brown trout and fishing for escaped rainbows along wi week long paddling trips during summertime in our canadian canoes round the entire loch and staying on the island where the viking kings had a tomb. I doubt kids t'day would be given the same freedom as we had but back then we'd leave the house in the summertime whether that be exploring the forest roads in our beat up cars, on bikes/mtbs etc and not return home for days - i guess our parents trusted us as we always went about in our wee gang of 4, and we were responsible kids....to a point 😉
Sorry I meant Dalavich, stayed in the foresters loch side houses on 86 had a great time. Just [url= http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=196992&y=712747&z=115&sv=196992,712747&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=530&ax=196992&ay=712747&lm=0 ]HERE[/url]
Also spent our honeymoon & 3 other holidays on the other side @ [url= http://www.loch-awe.co.uk/ ]Ardbrechnish house[/url]
Heh!,Ti'z a cracking place if you enjoy the outdoor and desolate lifestyle, Just had a search online and found this pic,
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This was our house attached to the right of the main one in the picture below, one of the white stone houses along the front of the village and that was my bedroom window up the top - brilliant place and i've always meant to go back wi the bike and explore all my childhood trails as my mothers family still stay in the Castle Sween/Crinan/Lochgilphead area. We also stayed at Lochgilphead/Achnamara/Crinin/Ardrishaig etc so it would be ace to explore all the wee trails and places we used to go as kids but i dunno whether i've viewing it through rose tinted memories or not?, We left Argyll in 1988-89 to move back down to Galloway where i spent most of my childhood.....I guess i have to go back as thats where I got and rode my very first mtb back in 1986, I feel a winter road trip coming on, the teenage years revisited........... at least there'll be no bloody midges 😀
Wow...that's stirred up some memories 😯
